How to Set the Height of a Footer in MS Word

By Lily Medina

The bottom margin of the page, often called the footer, can contain information such as page numbers, document title and the date. Your margin settings determine the standard height of the footer in your document, but you can control the footer separately. Using the footer controls, you can change the height of the text in the footer, moving it higher or lower. Using the margin controls, you can change the height of the bottom margin itself, raising its upper edge farther from the bottom edge of the page.

Footer Controls

Step 1

Double-click the footer to open that section. Or, click the "Insert" tab, then click the "Footer" icon, then click "Edit Footer" at the bottom of the drop-down menu.The Ribbon will automatically open the "Design" tab.

Step 2

Click the up arrow or the down arrow next to the "Footer from Bottom" field, in the Position group. Or, type a new value into the field. Clicking the downward arrow or typing a lower number will lower the height of the footer text; clicking the upward arrow or typing a higher number will raise the height of the footer text. For the first few clicks, raising the height may only raise the height of the footer text, not the height of the footer's upper edge. Once the number in the field equals the height of the bottom margin, then further clicks will raise the entire margin. Lowering the text height, on the other hand, will not affect the upper border of the actual bottom margin.

Step 3

Click "Close Header and Footer," the button on the far right end of the Ribbon.

Margin Controls

Step 1

Click the "Page Layout" tab on the Ribbon.

Step 2

Click the "Margins" button to open the drop-down Margins menu; then click "Custom Margins" at the bottom of that menu. This launches the Page Setup dialog box, open to the Margins tab.

Step 3

Click the up or down arrow next to the "Bottom" field, under the heading "Margins," or type a new value in this field. Setting a higher value will raise the height of the entire footer section; setting a lower value will lower the top edge of the bottom margin or footer.